World Vision U.S. president Rich Stearns and his wife, Reneé, released two new books last week! He Walks Among Us: Encounters With Christ in a Broken World is a book of devotionals, and God’s Love For You is a Bible storybook for kids.

Today, Rich describes the journey of writing these books and his encounters with God during his travels all around the world with Reneé and World Vision.

Mother Teresa is a profound example of someone who chose to follow Jesus’ example of love and concern by caring for the needs of people living in poverty in Calcutta, India. Mother Teresa’s birthday today reminds us of her profound efforts of love, mercy, and kindness during her many years of service among the poorest of the poor.

In honor of International Women’s Day today and in celebration of yesterday’s premiere of 10X10’s new film Girl Rising, we want to pray for each of the girls featured in the film, the communities they represent, and World Vision’s work in some those communities. Two girls in the film come from World Vision project areas.

During the True Spirit of Christmas Tour, we have seen how lives in Turkana, Kenya, are being changed through gifts like chickens and goats. While in Kenya, our team also had the chance to get to know John Okere, who helps oversee World Vision's work there.

John has worked for World Vision for six years because he believes in the positive impact of our work on communities.

“We touch people’s lives directly, and we see transformation almost immediately.”

John earned a degree in public health from Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya, and uses his knowledge to help families in the Turkana region.

Today, he shares with us how we can be praying for the people of Turkana.

Today is National Day of Prayer, a chance for Christians across the United States to come together around the belief that we serve a God who hears us when we pray.

Join us today in lifting up families affected by the food crisis in West Africa. Failed rains have led to poor harvests across the region, affecting as many as 15 million people in six countries -- Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal, Chad, and Burkina Faso. Many families have exhausted their traditional means of coping and are cutting back on the number of meals they eat every day.

Without access to basic nutrition, growing children may suffer developmental issues that can last a lifetime. Your prayers for these families already affected by poverty are urgently needed.

We believe prayer is foundational to our work. It sensitizes us to the needs around us and acknowledges God’s provision and help in all we do. Join us in prayer for the needs of children and families in West Africa impacted by the deepening drought and food crisis.

Should we pray for our public leaders as much as we pray for ourselves? When praying for our elected officials, what should we be praying for?

These are the questions I ask myself every year around this time in October as the first of the month marked the start of a new fiscal year for our federal government. That means some reflection on the past fiscal year, including major accomplishments and major deficits regarding federal policies. In my position at World Vision, these are especially important.

October 1 is also the first day of a new fiscal year for World Vision offices. To appropriately honor the day, our staff members, volunteers, and World Vision supporters from all around the world commit the day to prayer for direction, encouragement, and renewal in the fiscal year ahead. It's an important tradition that World Vision looks forward to each year.

Although our federal government isn't tied to the same Christian mission as our organization, my role working in government relations calls me to reflect on the previous federal fiscal year, too. This includes the bills enacted with the support of World Vision's advocates and campaigns -- like the Child Soldier Prevention Act, the Sudan Peace Act, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, to name a few.

I thread the glass beads between my tired fingers in my left hand. My right hand holds the pen to paper.

I scratch out prayers in the quiet morning over coffee.

God and I meet best in the early hours, my mind needing awakening and my bones still heavy from sleep. I suppose He’d meet me anytime, but I’m most sincere in the morning.

I’ve never done well with prayer. It’s always been a hurdle to jump, my brick wall in the marathon of faith. Putting me in a group of people who speak whispered prayers makes me uneasy, and I clam up tight and choose to be quiet.

If I speak my prayers, my language changes. I don’t sound like me, I feel weird in my skin.

So, I take to paper. Journal upon journal upon journal…lines filled with etched-in ink, aching cries, soaring gratitude, questions and more questions. It’s a history of my hemming-in, Him drawing near, yet letting me run. The journals remind me of His own pen and ink, writing out the grand stories of life and lives.

About six months ago, as my team was putting together the autumn 2011 issue of World Vision Magazine, I asked our social media team if we could pose a question to World Vision Facebook fans -- and potentially use the responses in the magazine.

At that stage, we had an article from Rich Stearns, president of World Vision U.S., about how World Vision’s faith plays a role in every community where we work. I think it’s a great article that shows the big picture of how our faith motivates our staff around the world.

But something was missing. Of course, it is important to see how faith motivates World Vision staff, but I also wanted to show that faith motivates many of you, our supporters.

So we posed the question to our fans on Facebook: How do you pray for your sponsored child?